Finnick's Rebirth
by nrdygrl614
Summary: So, this one is for all of you Finnick fans who were as distraught as me when he died. The italicized text belongs to the amazing Susanne Collins, and the rest is mine. This is part one of my "Between the Lines" series. Thanks!
1. Chapter 1

"_The others are shouting at me, but I can't seem to respond. Strong arms lift me as I blast the head off a mutt whose claws have just grazed my ankle. I'm slammed into the ladder. Hands shoved against the rungs. Ordered to climb. My wooden, puppet limbs obey. Movement slowly brings me back to my senses. I detect one person above me. Pollux. Peeta and Cressida are below. We reach a platform. Switch to a second ladder. Rungs slick with sweat and mildew. At the next platform, my head has cleared and the reality of what's happened hits me. I begin frantically pulling people up off the ladder. Peeta. Cressida. That's it."_

Katniss. Help.

"_What have I done? What have I abandoned the others to? I'm scrambling back down the ladder when one of my boots kicks someone."_

"_Climb!" Gale barks at me. I'm back up, hauling him in, peering into the gloom for more. "No." Gale turns my face to him and shakes his head. Uniform shredded. Gaping wound in the side of his neck._

_There's a human cry from below. _

I scream, as the mutt digs into my leg.

"_Someone's still alive," I plead._

I'm still alive. They're talking about me. I'm alive.

"_No, Katniss. They're not coming," says Gale. "Only the mutts are."_

Help.

"_Unable to accept it, I shine the light from Cressida's gun down the shaft. Far below, I can just make out Finnick, struggling to hang on as three mutts tear at him."_

Too weak to scream. Be strong. Annie.

"_As one yanks back his head to take the death bite, something bizarre happens. It's as if I'm Finnick, watching images of my life flash by."_

The mutt leans over, rabid drool frothing out of the corner of its mouth, dribbling onto my neck. I close my eyes and wait for the death to come. The beach, the waves, the ocean. My father teaching me how to fish. My first catch, a bass, two feet long. We cook it, and eat it for dinner. The first trident, a birthday gift from my father. As he hands it to me, he tells me, "Just in case." The games; Mag's kind face smiling as she steps into the gas and melts. Annie screaming as her teammate is beheaded. Annie, sliding a ring onto my finger, telling me she loves me.

" _The mast of a boat, a silver parachute, Mags laughing, a pink sky, Beetee's trident, Annie in her wedding dress, waves breaking over rocks. Then it's over."_

Is it over? Is this the end? Why am I not dead?

"_I slide the Holo from my belt and choke out «nightlock, nightlock, nightlock.» Release it. Hunch against the wall with the others as the explosion rocks the platform and bits of mutt and human flesh shoot out of the pipe and shower us."_

No. Katniss. I'm alive. Help. I wonder if she saw the mutt back away, as she dropped the Holo. I wonder if she'll ever know that if she didn't drop it, she could have saved me. But it's not her fault. Katniss, I forgive you. The Holo is ten feet from the ground, everything moves in slow motion, like I'm underwater. I close my eyes. Annie, I love you. I'm sorry.

The bomb touches the floor. Agony shoots up my body as my leg is blown off. Everything goes dark. I'm dead.

"_There's a clank as Pollux slams a cover over the pipe and locks it in place. Pollux, Gale, Cressida, Peeta, and me. We're all that's left. Later, the human feelings will come. Now I'm conscious only of an animal need to keep the remnants of our band alive."_

I'm alive.


	2. Chapter 2

_The rebels have won the war, it seems, and with the death of the feared President Snow, it is our hope that a new era of peace may be born. However, we may have to wait a while for any change, as setting up a new government will take some time. _

_This victory has not been without some major losses. So far, two-hundred and thirty-seven soldiers have been confirmed dead, and sources say that there could be more bodies waiting to be uncovered._

_One of the major losses to the Rebel's has been the charismatic and charming Finnick Odair. Finnick had just married another prior Hunger Games victor, Annie. Doctors have confirmed her pregnancy. Finnick will always be remembered for his bravery. For generations to come, we will look back on him as a hero. This is Talis Hues, coming to you straight from what used to be the capitol. _

My eyes open. I squint. It's so bright—my head's pounding. Everything's blurry, colorless.

I try to focus, but then there's pain. Pain that ricochets through my body, my leg, my head, my neck, my chest.

I take a deep breath, but that hurts too, and I bite down hard on my tongue, tasting blood. I wince, and clothes my eyes, unsure whether I want to remain conscious or not.

I let my body decide, and it chooses the sweet numbness of sleep.

I don't dream, if I do, I don't remember.

I open my eyes again, and something occurs to me. I don't remember—anything. I can't remember my name.

I attempt to prop myself up, but once again, searing pain flashes up my back, turning my vision red.

I try to steady myself, taking small breaths, in and out, in and out. I can't move my neck, or my arms.

I feel useless, weak. I can barely even see, and my mouth is too dry for me to talk, or even swallow the blood that has gathered there.

I should be happy I'm not dead, but this feels worse.

I feel like I should have died. But I can't remember why. I can't remember what it is that could have injured me so badly.

_C'mon, think. _

Yellow, cat-like eyes, staring at me.

_Good, that's a start. _

A lizard-like tongue, flicking back and forth.

_Okay._

Large, gaping jaws, with sharp, jagged teeth, tearing through my flesh, eating me alive.

My hands twitch. I look up, and take deep breaths. Half of my face feels swollen, and I think my nose is broken. Slowly, very slowly, I turn my neck to the side. I have to find out where I am.

_Bricks._ That's the first word that comes to me. My head is resting on a brick wall, which explains the discomfort. I slide my gaze as far as it will go, and come to a conclusion. I'm in an alleyway of some sort.

There's debris everywhere. I try to look down, and my head throbs from the effort. There's a large chunk of cement on my leg. It should hurt, but I can barely feel it. This should be a relief, but instead it scares me.

I'm still not strong enough to lift my hands more than an inch off the ground, and there's no way I could remove the boulder. So I have two options. Wait for help to come, or rest up and drag myself back to civilization. I sigh. It's unlikely that anyone will come looking in an abandoned alleyway.

I couldn't be that important anyway, otherwise, why would they have stopped looking for me?

_The Mockingjay, Katniss Everdeen herself assures us that Finnick Odair was dead. She insists that he was killed by the bombs, and that she has no more to add to the story. _

What's my story?

Who am I?

All I want is a name, any name at all.

Anything to connect me to who I am, who I was.

…

_Annie._


	3. Chapter 3

If I don't get up soon, I will starve to death. I have been sitting here, fading in and out of consciousness for two nights.

On the first day, I managed to drink water from a puddle next to me, but as the sun got brighter, it evaporated, and I was left dehydrated and hungry.

I have been practicing for this moment; stretching my legs, picking up various pieces of debris next to me, raising them, setting them down. Today, I would get that chunk of plaster off of my leg, and try to stand. I would rather die trying, than die without trying at all.

It helps now that I have some motivation. I have had plenty of time to remember who I was.

I haven't found my name yet, but I remembered many other things.

The earliest clear memory I have is a rope that I would tie in knots, when I was in a mental hospital. I remember someone, a girl, who was there with me.

A friend.

But I can't identify a face or a name. I remember being a soldier, marching through the ruined city.

But the thing I remember most is my death.

It replays clearly in my head when I'm awake, and when I'm asleep.

The reptile's yellow, serpentine eyes, it's jagged, yellow, bloody, crocodile teeth, ripping me apart. I remember looking up, trying to ask for help.

And I remember how they left me. _They left me to die_.

_Annie_.

Her face, and how I felt for her.

I know I loved her.

But I can't remember what she was to me. Was she a crush? A girlfriend? A lover? I remembered having many lovers, being forced to let them use my body. I grunt.

They wouldn't want my body now. That was some source of comfort. Right now I am far too broken, too damaged.

I look up at the grey sky, then down at my leg. I take a deep breath, then flex my fingers. I don't allow myself to feel the pain that throbs in my right arm.

I reach my hands forward, and let them find a grip on the cement. And then I lift. I grimace, and my face contorts with pain, but I push it off of me.

I close my eyes and lean my head back, breathing unsteadily. I feel the corners of my lips draw up in to a victorious smirk.

All I have to do now is stand.

I wait until my breathing steadies, and then I look down at my left leg, only to discover—it's gone.

The whole thing, up to my knee, is gone. I cringe as I see the bone peaking through my knee. It looks as if it has been gnawed on by a dog.

This is going to make standing very difficult. But I have no choice. No one has walked by in the three days that I have been conscious, so it is fair to assume that no help will come.

I turn my body around so that I am facing the brick wall. I reach up my hands, clutching the crevices, and I begin to pull myself up, very slowly. I wince, and bite down hard on my tongue.

But I am standing now.

I am standing, and I smile.

But I'm not safe yet.

And of course having only one leg does complicate things. But I look out into the demolished street, and

I feel hope.

I feel like-I might have a chance.

I feel…alive.


End file.
